More on the matter of squarely facing the reality of the Trump era

You'll recall my post from Friday entitled "The Difficulties for Each and Every Camp Posed By the Reality of Donald Trump." Among the camps I examined was that embodied by George Will, whose Washington Post column about Mike Pence  has ignited a firestorm. Lefties are having a social-media field day with it. Trumpists are aghast.

I have to say that Bill Bennett's take is worth considering. I'm not saying I'm in complete alignment with it, but his objection to Will's stance strikes me as measured. He takes in the full context of what is either an outburst or a urgent lament, depending on one's point of view.

He enters into his argument quite graciously:

George Will is a neighbor and, if not a friend, more than an acquaintance. He has done me more than one good turn. He and his family have been hospitable to my family, and I, like so many others, have learned from and cited a great deal of his work over the years. All the more troubling, then, to see him stoop to ad-hominem attacks. 

Then he notes that Will has had rather persnickety standards for some time:

Since when are humility and decorum fodder for scorn of the worst kind? Since at least 1990, when Will did this to another honorable and unpretentious man: President George Herbert Walker Bush.

Will derided President Bush’s modesty as “arrogance,” excoriating the then-president for the high crime of de-emphasizing the “rhetorical dimension of the presidency” that Bush’s predecessor, the Great Communicator Ronald Reagan, employed with aplomb. 

What is it about proper, genteel, civil, self-effacing men that George Will doesn’t like? It is clearly not that he prefers improper, brash men. 

He then gets to the basis for his position, which is the importance of end results:

To put it in Will-ian terms: The only purpose these sesquipedalian insults serve is to denigrate men who are actually working to make this country better. The intellectual elite inside the Beltway would be well-served to look at the big picture. We understand that you think you’re classier than the president and smarter than the vice president. We just don’t care. 

What matters are the actions being taken by President Trump and Vice President Pence, and they are saving the country.

As I say, I don't give as much of a pass to either Pence or Trump as Bennett does, but he's basically right.

And public sentiment seems to bear that out. I also found noteworthy this piece at The Hill by Jared Whitley entitled  "Sorry, There's Not Going to Be Any Blue Tidal Wave." The whole thing should be read without excerpting - plus, I need to get ready for church - so I'll merely encourage you to do so.

The overall point here is that it looks like the reality of the Trump administration and Republican control of Congress and a majority of state governments is not going anywhere, so the task before us is to deal with it.

For conservatives, while it may not be a walk in the park, it should be easier than for "progressives," given that a hallmark of the conservative worldview is squarely facing reality.